Like a Wild Sorority Girl... Quick, Easy and Cheap (Meals)

I have been trying to get back to this blog and here I am!  I wanted to post my latest dinner dishes.
The theme of all my meals this week (and most weeks) is quick and easy.

I didn't get to post my stir-fry last Thursday so here it is:
Cheap Chicken Stir-Fry
This is one of my go-to meals. It is so cheap and you can use the veggies in the house that are on their way to going bad, in the freezer, etc.  I buy a box of Perdue frozen chicken breasts (about 8  breasts for $12) and make 2-3 meals out of it. Stir Fry chicken is one of those. I also am a huge cheater when it comes to rice. I make my brown rice in the rice cooker.

Brown Rice in the Rice Cooker

Perdue Chicken Box

Ingredients: 
Brown Rice (I use 2-3 cups)
Chicken Breasts Cubed
Veggies (This time I used baby carrots, celery, onions and frozen broccoli but you can use almost anything)
1/4 cup Stir-Fry Sauce OR a combination of soy and oyster sauce
1/4 cup of water
1 Tbs. of canola oil (or sesame if you have it)
Directions:
Cook your rice. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions (or garlic) first and cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken and other vegetables. Add your stir fry sauce and water. Stir to coat well. Turn heat down to low and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes stirring about every 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

I also heated up some chicken potstickers from Trader Joe's (the are so yummy) to go on the side.

Stir Fry Cooking

Complete Meal

My kids generally like this meal and the hubby is okay with it. It is so quick and super cheap.

Tacos!

Taco Night! 

Toppings

On Sunday, we had Taco Night. I know this is a super common American meal. It is inexpensive, cheap and can be made in a relatively healthy way. My kids really like taco night. They can make the tacos the way they like and despite the mess, they are fun to eat. My ways of making this dish healthier include using ground turkey, making my own taco seasoning, using spinach instead of lettuce and adding avocado. Sometimes we also use whole wheat tortillas and plain yogurt in place of sour cream.

Taco Seasoning

It almost seems silly to post my recipe, but here it is.
Taco Seasoning Ingredients:
1 Tbs. chili powder       1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder   1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp. oregano            1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 Tbs. cumin                 1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt                   1/2 tsp. black pepper
Directions: Mix together in a small bowl.


Taco Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey                 1/2 cup of water
Taco Seasoning (see above)   Taco shells or tortillas
Baby Spinach                         Diced tomatoes
2 Avocados sliced                  Sour Cream (or plain yogurt)
Hot Sauce                              Shredded Cheese
Directions:
Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the ground turkey. Once turkey is browned, add  the taco seasoning and water, stirring well to coat. Remove from heat and serve with other toppings.
You can also serve this with beans.

One Dish Chicken 

Monday night, I got some inspiration from Pintrest and used more of my Perdue frozen chicken box.. The dish turned out great. I used less butter and used some olive oil. Next time I'll try just olive oil. The blog it came from is here:
simple2something chicken dinner

Here is mine

On the plate

While I was defrosting frozen green beans, I heated some up to make some baby food. I put the green beans in the blender with a little water and voila! I freeze my baby food and mix it with rice cereal for my 6 month old.

Homemade Baby Food

Italian Wonderpot

Italian Wonderpot Plated

Yesterday, I also took inspiration from Pinterest, although I already make something almost exactly like this, except not in one pot. I love anything that uses one pot or dish so I couldn't resist it. I liked the fact that there was no draining either. It was super yummy and everyone in my house liked it.
I got the recipe from here: Italian Wonderpot

Tonight, I am making veggie pot pie, another inexpensive and easy meal. I will post that recipe and pictures at a later date as it isn't done yet and I am currently typing with one hand while holding a mildly cranky baby.

Thirsty Thursdays? More Like Nursery Thursdays...

Haiku for the day: 

Party

When I was younger,

Some days were for partying,

Parties now for kids...

Instead of rum shots,

There are clowns, balloons and spit-up,

Now, sleep beats drinking.

When I get on Facebook, I am reminded of all these cool things like "Thirsty Thursdays". I guess the baby celebrates with Dos Tetas but Thursday is just another day for me these days. Today went something like this:

6:15 a.m.- Wake-Up and wake the 14 year old up. Try and lay back down and ignore the 6 month old beginning to cry in hopes she will decide to go back to sleep. 

6:30 a.m. - Give-Up and go get the baby and nurse her. Lay in bed wit the baby singing her songs. 

7:00 a.m. - Get the ten year old up, change a diaper, sing some more silly songs to the baby. The ten year old and Daddy come in and visit with the baby. 

7:45 a.m. - Put awesome show called "Yo Gabba Gabba" on for the baby and put the baby in her jumper thing to be entertained by characters that resemble things that belong in an adult toy shop. Feed animals while wondering why Biz Markie is teaching my baby the sound of the day. Wonder at the fact that my child will never quite understand a world when hip-hop was "street". Reconsider this notion as "Just a Friend" was SO NOT STREET. 

8:00 a.m. - Take the dog out front, hoping "Yo Gabba Gabba" will hold the baby's attention for another few minutes. 

8:05 a.m. - Baby Hope is no longer entertained by the T.V. and is mixing crying, whining and grunting. Pick up the baby and play a game of "how tall is the baby?" 

8:30 a.m. - Attempt to do dishes and clean-up while singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" to baby Hope while she is in her walker. 

8:45 a.m. - Stop kitchen clean-up as clearly, the baby has decided I am not singing the song fast enough for her tastes. Attempt to put the baby down for a nap.

9-9:30 a.m. - Try and block out the baby screaming while routinely checking on her. Check Facebook in between checking on her. Give in and move the baby to the swing and put music on. 

9:30 a.m. - Alleluia! Baby Hope is asleep! Talk to another awesome mom about some school and girl scout issues. Throw a load of laundry in the washing machine.

10:30 a.m. - Get showered and dressed

10:45 a.m. - Baby is now yelling (just in time for me to be finished getting dressed). Change the baby, put sweater on her, load her into a carseat with a blanket. Grab coat and purse and leave the house.

11:00 a.m. - Go to Target for swim diapers and swiffer juice. Come out with ten more things than planned. 

11:45 a.m. - Take mom to lunch, joined by my friend. Feed baby avocados mixed with rice cereal. Baby is now tired and requires lots of entertainment to keep her busy. Baby is passed around and played with to keep her from melting down. 

12:45 p.m. - Go to bank. Have friend drive the car around the parking lot so the baby will fall asleep while I run into the bank. 

1:00 p.m.- Return home quickly because mom is diabetic and forgot her medications and ate sopapillas with us. 

1: 05 p.m. - Go to the grocery store, have friend continue to drive the baby around the parking lot. Run and grab everything on mom's list while she refills prescriptions. Stop by the elementary school to pick-up ten-year-old's French Horn and some labels I need to make reminders. 

1:35 p.m. - Return home after dropping off friend. Try and check e-mail. Talk again with a mom friend. 

2:30 p.m. - Baby wakes up from nap, she is mad because she is in her carseat. Change baby. Entertain baby.

3:00 p.m. - Do a quick sweep and swiffer of the living room. Throw laundry in dryer. Nurse baby.

3:30 p.m. - Fourteen year old requests to picked up from staying after school. Finish the e-mail I was in the middle of, dress baby to go out again and put her in her carseat. Grab coat and keys and head up to the middle school. Scream lots of obscenities at the Check Engine light that I just paid $425 to fix YESTERDAY and is now back on.  Wonder if people in nearby cars can see me looking down and cursing. Pick up fourteen year old. Inquire with her as to why she doesn't want to attend the dance being held at school today. Destiny, my teenager answers: "Unless they are giving us extra credit or it is required for a grade why would I ever attend such a silly event?" This makes me sad as I loved dances as a kid. 

3:50 p.m. - Stop by Auto Shop where I just took my car, since they NEVER PICK UP THE PHONE. Made arrangements to bring the car back another day.

4:00 p.m. - Check on ten year old's homework, make signs for a school event, try and finish checking e-mail. Remind kids about chores. Hold baby that is cranky again. Try and fold clothes with help from ten year old.

4:45 p.m. - Cook dinner (more on that to follow) with help from the ten year old. Put cranky baby in the walker and give her various kitchen items to play with. This works to keep her somewhat quiet during most of dinner prep. I am relived not to have to sing "Old MacDonald" again. 

5:15 p.m. - Baby wants out of walker, put her in the swing. Feel guilty but put on "Yo Gabba Gabba" again. Finally finish e-mails.

5:45 p.m. - Feed family and mash up some strawberries to mix in with Hope's rice cereal. Feed baby. 

6:15 p.m. - Ten year old gets a call that there will be an impromptu basketball practice. Make some arrangements. Nurse baby.

6:45 - Get ready and leave for a parent's meeting for the Science Olympiad team my fourteen year old is on.

7:30 p.m. - Sit through lots of talk about events that don't concern my kid. Sit through stuff that does. Realize these parents are all like WAY smarter (and older) than I am. Wonder if they are always laughing at me because I am funny or if they just don't know what else to do with mere mortals? 

9:30 p.m. - Come home. Talk to kids. Say goodnight to them. Write in this blog. 

10:30 p.m. - Finish this post and go make sure kids are in bed. Take dog out. 

That is about right... so no Thirsty Thursday. At this point a glass of wine wouldn't even be worth it as I know, once the PJ's are on, the contacts out and my feet up, I am going to fall asleep. I will probably fall asleep with some great movie Allan has picked out to watch too. 

#mommyblogger #howdopeoplestaysowithit #bedtime #dostetas #thirsythursday #yeahright

Meet Team Weiss

I really don't think my life is super special but I feel like I want to share my daily life stuff in a way that is more detailed than Facebook, Instagram or other social media sites. I want to share my funny stories, struggles and recipes. I hope that others will find their way to my blog and also share.

I suppose I should start this blog by introducing myself. I am Sara. I am 36 years old (how did THAT happen). I live in Falls Church, Virginia. A suburb of D.C. on the Southern side of the Potomac. Yes, "Northern Virginia" as I was recently reminded over and over again while visiting Charlottesville. I was born in Naval Bethesda Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. My mother was in the Air Force. I have lived all over the DMV including Rockville, MD, Chevy Chase, MD, NW DC, Arlington, VA and Falls Church, VA. I am true DMV girl. I am not a transplant and I am not restricted to one part of the D-M-V.

This is me.

I have three children, all girls. I attribute the fact that I have three girls on a couple of things. One factor is my husband is kind of macho. So of course he would get girls! The other reason I believe I have girls is divine one. When I was pregnant with my second child, I asked God (or whatever Higher Power is listening) to please give me a boy so that I might not be such a man hater. When my second was born a girl, I just decided that the Higher Power agreed with my man-hating. My girls are Destiny, Faith and Hope. Yes, I am aware their names are kind of cheesy to some people but my husband and I happen to think they have cool names that mean something to us.

My oldest daughter is Destiny. She is currently 14 years old, in the 8th grade and she is super smart. I am pretty sure that she is the smartest person in the house when it comes to subjects like math and science. She recently won first place in two events at the Science Olympiad Regionals. I had her when I was 22 and my husband Allan was 19. We were young and not married but both very committed to being good parents. She is shy around people she doesn't know but very outspoken once she is comfortable. She is super into this Japanese video game called Tohou. This is not to be confused with regular Japanese Anime. She is very sensitive about this and will correct you with a quickness should you confuse the two. She has a dark sense of humor and thinks her sister Faith and I are very annoyingly cheerful. Destiny is not your typical teenager but still displays some teenage behavior.

Destiny

My middle child is Faith. Faith is 10 and in the 5th grade. She is a tiny thing with a huge personality. She loves drama,both in the artistic sense and the personal kind. She has a pretty hip style and she tends to wear different and neat things. She wore cat ears for about 4 years straight. She wore them to school, in pictures and pretty much any place she could wear them. She has recently changed to wearing hats. She is very sweet but not early in the morning or if she is mad. Her feelings are never a secret. She enjoys hanging out with her friends and listening to music. She aspires to become an actress. Something I understand since I would also like to be an actress. Faith was 3 months old when Allan and I got married. She is always up for doing or trying anything. Faith gives me typical tween stories.

Faith

My youngest daughter is Hope. She is currently 6 months old. Yes, we are crazy to have started over again. She is either super happy or super cranky. Doing the baby thing in my 30's is different than doing it in my 20's. We are in such a different place in life than when our other two girls were babies. Hope is always getting love from her sister Faith and Destiny makes her laugh. Hope is spitting up all the time now. I feel like my furniture and clothing are always smelling like spit-up. Yeah, I know, Spit happens.

Hope

My husband is Allan. He works at a local university and thinks he is super funny and in shape. I believe he is addicted to working out. He disagrees. We have been together for 15 years and married for 10 years. I am pretty sure we drive each other crazy but we are always on Team Weiss.

Allan and I 

My mom Michele also lives in our household. She is retired and love to eat at Chevy's Tex-Mex. She could eat guacamole everyday. She has a lot of funny opinions and is very kind.

Mom

Well, this is us... I hope I can generate some interest in our life....

#mommyblogger #kids #recipes

How Did I Forget?

Our family gets really busy, although I know even busier families. When Hope was born, I quit working to spend the first year or so with her. I thought that once I was a stay-at-home mom again I would be so on top things. I figured I would have all this time to make sure I kept track of everything. So far, this has been anything but the case. My memory seems to have left with the birth of Hope. I even forgot her (very briefly) in the car once.

Between my older kids sports, school functions and keeping them on track with school work it is a miracle I remember to brush my teeth. There are many nights where I need to have my family fed and get a kid out the door by 5:30. This means I need to either grab something like Subway or get something cooked fast. I know that I am one of many parents that are in this situation. One of the other side effects of not working is we are also on a tighter budget. So I have a few go-to meals that are quick, easy and cheap.

Tonight my family was fed my Veggie Chili. Which, my best girlfriend calls "goulash". Whatever it is, it is so easy and yummy. The grown-ups love this meal but I will say my girls are never super thrilled for this meal but they eat it anyway. This meal gets the hubby's approval for being healthy.

Veggie Chili

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 of a Large White Onion 

1 Bell Pepper Chopped (Optional)

1 can of Black Beans, drained

1 can of Red Kidney beans, drained

2 cans of diced tomatoes

3 Tbsp. Hot Sauce

1 Tbsp. Chili Powder

1 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper 

Time: 

Prep: 10 minutes Cook Time: 30

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onions and bell peppers and heat until onions are translucent, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Lower heat to medium. Stir in beans, tomatoes, hot sauce, chili powder and cayenne powder. Put lid back on the pot and reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 30 minutes. 

Serve with crackers, sour cream, cheese or cornbread. 

You can season this with as much or as little spice as you like. My favorite hot sauce is Cholula. You can leave this on the burner on low for a long time. The total cost of this meal that feeds my family of six is around $6. Of course the more add-ons you add the more expensive. 

My younger daughter did ask me tonight to please stop making this on nights when she plays basketball since beans have the tendency to give her gas. My reply was: "Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot".